Universal Declaration of Human Rights-Article 1.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Australia: Rape is Women's Fault!

Believe it or not but in my last years of high school, I had a history teacher who sometimes volunteered to vomit his personal views on women and religion. He sometimes digressed from the class to express some personal opinions.

One of the comments that I cannot forget until today is that when he said one time that women are like sweets (particularly Basbosa) if left uncovered, flies will stop on her. Hence, he believes that women’s best place is their homes and wearing headscarves. The man believed himself to be popular and funny. I always felt that he has got too many complexes at so many levels. And by the way, I did not go to a public/government school where teachers’ qualifications might be compromised. I went to a private school, so in fact there was no excuse to end up with such a teacher.

So I was about to start my university studies with a lovely message from my history teacher that flies will have me as a stop if I do not cover my head and stay at home.

Today, I was reading the news on the internet, I found another smart Muslim cleric who is the laying the blame of rape on women and guess why because that’s what women deserves when they do not cover their head. That’s because a woman can rape herself!

But the news is not coming from Cairo where I grew up and lived. It is coming from Sydney, Australia.

My history teacher was the messenger. In Australia, the message came from the original sources, one of the Muslim clerics who is still living apparently in the dark Middle Ages. No body informed him that in the western world women are treated with respect and dignity.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard called the remarks "appalling and reprehensible." I think this is the least he can say. If I fail to understand this dark mentality that forces women to dress in a certain code and lay the blame on her for every crime including an abhorrent crime like rape, how can the westerners who hire women as heads of state understand?

Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said Hilali's comment was an incitement to rape saying “This is inciting young men to a violent crime because it is the woman's fault." This is a very polite way to put it. However, he should have continued the consequences of making women as the sole responsible for rape. Some pigs will come to claim that they have the right to punish women for their faults by making innocent men slip into raping women.

The only way I see for curbing this world phenomenon of spreading dark ideas is strong legislation that punishes those who insist to live in the dark middle ages. Arguing seems to me so futile. We are living in the 21 century and life is too short.

18 Comments:

It's hard to understand comments like that if you think with your entire brain and not just half of it. Because as you can see, hijab-less Western women are getting raped left and right here in America.

It's too bad the voice of reason and moderation are losing out on this battle for hearts and minds in Egypt and the Middle East.

It was interesting to see how your former teacher was trying to manipulate you into wearing the veil. It's nice to see that Egyptian PRIVATE schools endorse and reward this kind of unacceptable behavior.

The scrutiny of Western thinkers will be the downfall of the radical islamic clerics. As more and more Westerners are exposed to what is said in mosques the more questions the clerics will have to answer. Muslims like this have not faced this kind of questioning. This is new to them. It is our duty to drag them (kicking & screaming) into modern times.

That man's thinking cannot be changed by anybody but himself. He should be either imprisoned or deported, or both. That's incitement to violence, not free speech, and it was done under color of authority. That absolutely IS a criminal act. Or, it would be in the United States, at least.

Even if he was made to shut up in public, he'd still express the same views privately, wouldn't he? And maybe the fact that the kafirs were persecuting him for his statements would make them more credible, to whatever kind of cretins he has as followers.

Halalhippie,

Famous Danish imam Abu Laban is a "persona non grata" in Egypt. What do we do about such ppl ?

I don't think that's a legal concept, declaring somebody to be persona-non-grata in their home country :)

Al-Hilali is an Egyptian-born Sunni who has been a staunch critic of Australia's alliance with the United States in theIraq war. He triggered a controversy in 2004 for saying in a sermon in Lebanon that the Sept. 11 attacks were "God's work against the oppressors." Al-Hilali said later he did not support the attacks, or terrorism.

Why wasn't anything done about him then? In 2004? This is the top Islamic authority in Australia, supporting terrorism.

I have no idea how those extremists are using the western freedom to promote their hatred against women and the societies they live in.

On many Arabic TV channels broadcast in the ME, so many clerics living abroad in Europe are being hosted and they are saying the most hostile comments about the west where they live!! I hope someone is watching these programs.

Contarary to what those who don't understand Islam think: Islam gave women such freedom, rights and respect that - it's hard to believe now that was so. That was almost 1,500 years ago.

How long has it been since, in our 'developed' parts of the World, (have) women been 'emancipated', given freedom to vote and own property and given 'equal' rights with men?

Right at the beginning of Islam, women had power, rights and helped shape Islam just as men did. Khadija is the one who proposed for marriage to the Prophet; she was wealthy and owned all her property and was the first to become a Muslim. She went on to greatly shape Islam just as did the other wives who later the Prophet married after Khadija's death, did.

It is with this in mind that - it's sad and unfortunate to have 'Sheikhs' and so called Islamic 'scholars' who present/portray issues on women in a way that demeans and degrades women.

Freedom, unfortunately the Western politicians have for decades led a successful campaign to make citizens forget what the state's basic function is (i.e. to provide security and justice for ordinary people). So now, when Muslim clerics in Australia praise terror and declare open season on unveiled women or Muslim vandals in France torch cars, politicians just smile shyly, which is to mean, very sad but what can be done and why do you expect us to do anything in the situation? I don't yet hear a popular reply, "We pay sky-high taxes so that YOU protect us from exactly this sort of things!"Barsawad, I don't understand you and others who claim Islam has liberated women. Pre-Islamic Arab society surely had liberated women - businesswomen like Khadija and ordinary women with talent and active attitude to political events like Asma bint Marwan. The latter, because of her criticism of the Prophet, was "liberated" by a Muslim from this world and we know about her just because of the unrepentant testimony of early Muslim historians (other historians perhaps would cover the incident in ashamed silence). And in the Koran, it's written in plain text that a Muslim man can beat his Muslim wife whenever he wishes. What's the use of having property if your very body is someone else's property?

No Islam equals freedom; what an incredibly naive and ignorant proposition. Certain contentious notions in Islam are interpreted differently by different Muslims, clerics and societies; why must the insipid words of one Sheikh spark such vile sentiments for an entire religion. Those who spew hatred as they hide behind liberal secularism should be condemned and critiqued just as those who spew hatred hiding behind religion.

The struggle is against oppression, intolerance and misogyny not against any religion per se.

We should reject this attitude just as equally as we reject Bush's claims about his war on terror being a holy crusade for if we allow an entire religion to be represented by the thoughts of a few then we ought to allow the pope's recent anti Islamic remarks to spark an inveigh against Christian theology as a whole.

Whereas I agree with where you're coming from, the one thing I have a problem with is your casual conviction regarding how women are treated in the 'West'. You say 'in the western world women are treated with respect and dignity.'

Well, sorry to break it to you, but they're not. A casual examination of scale would show you that Egypt has less rapes than the United States for example, and that the porn industry, one of the largest economical forces in America, is not an Islamic product, and if anything is the industry most responsible for objectifying women.

Also - a casual look at western media productions such as Joe Millionaire, for example should assure you that no Middle Eastern county has a show in which many female contestants basically prostitute themselves in a deceitful (on both sides) attempt to score big.

I'm not saying you're wrong about your teacher, you're not. And I'm not saying the Australian cleric isn't an idiot, he most certainly sounds like one.

I'm just saying it's not all roses out there, and I somewhat resent the casual impression that many people have that the 'west' is somehow more civilized about these issues. They're just not.

i am afraid it extends far beyond matters relating to rape... i was reading a book the other day called fiqh al nissa (jurisprudence of women) by some guy who abstained from publishing his name (the book is published by dar el fikr in beirut) anyway in the book which is supposedly a manuscript outlining women rights in marriage, tahara (abolision and hygiene ) haj and other matters all i got was more "reasoning" on why women should be submissive to men -or at least what he claims is reasoning- at one point i got so mad i just shut the book because the guy was saying there are 8 things a woman should be to be happy and make her husband happy... and yup you guessed it all of them are in favor of the guy... be quite if he wants you to, do what he wants, copulate when he wants, feed him, clean, laugh, dance... basically be a circus monkey trained to satisfy his ever whim.... i mean what the....? what happened to her needs and her happiness... i don't know about you guys but i sure as hell would not be happy if i couldn't step out to get a breather here and there, or if i couldn't work and reproduce....it's really aggravating!!! especially when these dumb sheiks -as one of you put them- or westerners start to compare the alternative and pick the flaws... i mean i believe a woman's self respect come from her decency and ability to step beyond patriarchal dominance... in the west it seems to me that women tried to achieve that only to fall deeper into it by manipulation (reverse psychology maybe??? or perhaps the brain-cell-killing Hollywood influence)... and then the muslims see that because they are not in the same pot and they point and laugh... but look at them... they forget all the beauty and logic and clarity found in the quran and sunnah and they manipulate it to fit their needs and interpretations... they claim islam is fit for every century (and i agree it is but not in the way it is being conducted now) they take things that shouldn't be literal literally and then once confronted (as when the west says islam is to brutal to its women) instead of enlightening the world, they retort (and by god with the dumbest things ever) and say well 78% (or some dumb statistical number) of american women get beaten up brutally each year... i mean seriously? what kind of argument is that... the truth is in their constitution women hold as much right and a man get prosecuted for his crime accordingly.. so it's not like they run around advocating beatings... so how is this relevant? if islam is a way of life then it should apply to all members of society men included, and they should (and god be their witness) be fair and kind... not beat the crap out of a woman or rape her and say it's her fault... really! the image that is drawn onto islam is the fault of the people and not the religion (because it is a beautiful peaceful merciful fair harmonious religion!) i am disappointed at the arabs whom in their hands lay the most holiest of places, but with those same hands the most atrocious sins and crimes have been committed... jihad? jihad means to defend islam and one's country... and that could be done in many ways... look at the israelies... granted their intelligence is one of the strongest in the world, and granted they perhaps have committed unfair crimes as well... but they defend their country primarilay not by force... but rather by the 2 Ms... media and money... look at all the hollywood movies a jewish person who has an Israeli passport is in almost all off them owning an important part...and money? some of the most riches and most influential! and what do they do? they fund their country and defend it... what do the arabs and muslim population of the world do? they constitute among the poorest people of the world, the unemployed, illiterate, or the other type which is the spoiled rich who do nothing but accumulate money at the expense of falling nations (with exceptions off course) ..... i know i sound cynical and harsh and biased ... but this to me at least is the truth... and unless the young generation realizes what is going on and that our forefathers have been gambling with, trading, and selling our futures and thus shaking the corners of our Islamic belief it will be too late to redeem the dignity islam once had....

for the record "FFE" you have inspired me to start my own awareness blog... perhaps it may do our Muslim world some good....